Skill Glossary
A skill is a packaged capability written for an agent rather than for an ordinary software user. It usually contains triggers, operating instructions, tool conventions, safety notes, and local knowledge for a repeatable class of work: using Canvas, handling Apple Notes, managing GitHub issues, querying email, transcribing audio, or maintaining the Dictionary.
A tool is something the agent can call. A skill is the larger recipe that tells the agent when to call it, how to interpret the result, and what local conventions matter. This distinction is important because many agent failures are not tool failures. The tool works; the agent used it in the wrong situation or without the surrounding judgment.
In the Dictionary’s architecture, skills are one way to turn tacit operator knowledge into durable system behaviour.